Effects Of Allicin On Growth Performance,Intestinal And Immune Organ Development,and Intestinal Barrier Of Small-type White Feather Broilers

The use of antibiotics as feed additives has been completely banned in China.Allicin has good antibacterial and immune-enhancing effects,and is a good substitute for antibiotics.In this study,we analyzed the effects of dietary allicin supplementation on performance and intestinal health status of broilers,and provided scientific data reference for the development and application of allicin as an alternative to antibiotics in broiler production.A total of 240 one-day-old "817" small white-feared broilers were randomly divided into3 treatment groups with 8 replicates per treatment group and 10 broilers per replicate.The control group was fed a basal diet,the experimental group 1 was fed a basal diet +150mg/kg allicin,and the experimental group 2 was fed a basal diet +300mg/kg allicin.During the 56 days of the experiment,food intake and body weight were recorded daily,and samples were collected at 21,42 and 56 days.The results showed that there were no significant differences in daily gain,feed intake and feed to meat ratio among the treatments during 1-21 days of age(P > 0.05).The average daily gain of 300 mg/kg allicin group was significantly higher than that of control group and 150 mg/kg allicin group during 1-56 days of age(P < 0.01).At 56 days of age,the body weight of 300 mg/kg allicin group was significantly higher than that of control group and 150 mg/kg allicin group(P < 0.01).There were no significant differences in organ indexes of duodenum,jejunum,ileum,cecum,bursa of Fabris,thymus and spleen among groups at 21,42 and 56 days of age(P > 0.05).At 21 days of age,UA content in allicin 300 mg/kg group was significantly lower than that in control group(P < 0.05),while there were no significant differences in other parameters among the groups(P > 0.05).At 42 days of age,AST,P and HDL-C levels in allicin 300 mg/kg group were significantly lower than those in control group(P < 0.05).UA and TG in 150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg allicin supplementation groups were significantly lower than those in control group(P < 0.05),and the content of Ca was the lowest in allicin 300 mg/kg group(P < 0.05).At 56 days of age,there were no significant differences in plasma biochemical parameters among the groups(P > 0.05).There were no significant differences in the m RNA expression of occludin,claudin,ZO-1,TGF-β,IL-10 and IL-6 in the duodenum among the three groups(P > 0.05).There were no significant differences in occludin,claudin,ZO-1,IL-10 and IL-6 gene expression between jejunum and ileum groups(P > 0.05),but the expression of TGF-β gene in 300 mg/kg allicin group was significantly higher than that in control group and 150 mg/kg allicin group(P < 0.05).In conclusion,under the conditions of this study,allicin supplementation at 300 mg/kg could increase the marketing body weight of small white-feared broilers.Allicin supplementation has no beneficial influence on the immune function and intestinal barrier function.